The Houston Astros are set to host the Chicago White Sox for a thrilling Wild Card Series starting Tuesday at Daikin Park. However, a stark announcement from both teams ahead of the postseason opener has left fans in shock. Both Houston and Chicago have announced they will deploy a bullpen game on Tuesday night.
LHP Hagen Smith has been named the starter for the White Sox, while the Astros will start rookie right-hander AJ Blubaugh to open their bullpen game on Tuesday. On social media, baseball fans were quick to share blunt reactions to the news that both teams are treating Wild Card Series Game 1 as a bullpen game .
Houston clinched the AL West on the final day of the regular season, making a surprising entry into the postseason as the third seed. Chicago finished the campaign with an 84-78 record and missed the division title by just one game, a margin that could have directly sent them to the ALDS, avoiding the Wild Card series.
Houston and Chicago will be facing each other for the third time in the postseason. Their previous two postseason series are split evenly at 1-1. The first meeting came at the 2005 World Series when Houston played in the NL. Chicago won the World Series in four straight games.
16 years later, the two teams met again in the 2021 ALDS, where Houston avenged their previous loss and took down Chicago in four games, ultimately reaching the World Series but losing to the eventual champions, the Atlanta Braves , in six games.
It will surely be an exciting series between the two AL rivals, with all three games (Game 3, if necessary) scheduled to be played in Houston, starting at 5 p.m. ET.
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